I’m so excited by the birds in my backyard. Some come every day, no matter the weather.
Some only show themselves to me for moments…
…in all their finery.
And this one has only visited once and luckily I was standing in the window with my camera.
If I could, I’d stand all day long at my windows with the camera.
Pretty amazing.
Last weekend I got to enjoy a walk in the park with my aunt. And here another weekend is approaching and I haven’t shared with you what we found.
I guess I better get cracking.
We went to Hudson Mills, a park over near Dexter Michigan, not so far from where she lives, but far enough away we don’t get there very often. It reminded me quite a lot of my favorite park, Kensington, and in fact it’s part of the same park system.
There was a paved bike/walking path, and then lots of wooded nature trails to explore. We walked some of my aunt’s favorite trails, looking for evidence of spring, especially a particular dogwood tree she enjoys every year .
Luckily for us we had sunshine and slightly warm temperatures for our walk. Perfect. These are trails she knows well, and she knew just where to look for the early wildflowers too.
We walked in the dappled shade of newly leafed trees and watched the ground intently for surprises.
You could walk right past many of these wonderful bits of spring. But if you’re vigilant, you’ll see very special things.
It was so much fun when one or the other of us found something special and explained “Look!”
There was something to see no matter where we looked.
You could spend hours wandering these nature trails any time of the year and see beautiful things.
We had such a good time walking in the woods together.
And when we headed back to the car, we ran into a goose family with one little one trying to be grown up before he or she was old enough to care.
It was a fun end to a perfect day at the park.
Can’t wait for our next one!
I went for a walk at one of my favorite parks a couple days ago. It wasn’t a pretty day but at least it wasn’t raining. Or snowing.
I went because I hadn’t been in awhile and because I was feeling sad about a friend of mine who is going through some tough stuff.
When I got to the park there was a warning at the gate about a prescribed burn. That’s when parts of the land are deliberately burned to ward off weeds and nonnative plants.
Much of the nature trail area was black, which accentuated the hills that I’m always trying to photograph. For that reason alone I didn’t mind walking along the scorched earth, or the smell that can sometimes be overwhelming.
As I walked I stopped often to take pictures. No surprise. It took me forever to walk the four miles, but it didn’t feel like forever.
It felt wonderful. Spring is arriving, though slowly. Tiny wildflowers are popping up. More will follow.
I thought about my friend and hope he is able to come on a walk with me soon. He’d find hope in the woods, even the burned parts.
Of course yesterday, listening to the Supreme Court news, I felt sadness overtaking me again. The world seems to be a darker shade of burned right now.
I’m trying to remember that deep in the woods hope is poking up from under last years debris.
I think I’m going to need another walk real soon.
Katie here. You knew it was going to be me, right? Cause who else do you know that loves an adventure as much as me?
Saturday mama and I went to walk with my friend Queen Abby’s mom. You might remember that Abby got her wings in January of this year, so her mom has been a little sad. We thought maybe getting to walk together, even without the Queen, might make her feel better.
I have to say it was kind of hard to be out there without Abby, but we think maybe she was with us even though she wasn’t physically pulling on the leash.
I pulled on the leash enough for both of us.
We met at a state park I’ve never visited before, and there were a couple of trails we walked, mostly through the woods. I think I walked over a mile! It was so cold that the mamas wished they’d brought heavier clothes, but I was a happy girl, trotting up ahead of them most of the time, even up the hills!
It was such a pretty park, with winding trails and roads and it even had a campground, which of course mama had to explore.
And then we walked down near the lake. It was much windier there and I wasn’t sure about the waves blowing in. I didn’t want to stand close to them just for mama to take another picture
So I didn’t.
But I chose a spot just a little bit away from the pesky waves and let mama take one more picture.
And then the mamas sat on a bench and talked and I took a little nap on the cement underneath. It was nice and cool and the wind ruffled my fur and I was so happy!
This was the longest car ride I’ve been on since I got sick. At first I thought I was going to the vet and I was scared. But mama stopped at a rest area on the way so I could walk around and stuff. That never happens on the way to the vet, so I began to get excited.
And once I was at the park and walking with the mamas I was sooooooo happy! I pranced all over that park and couldn’t stop grinning.
Thanks, mamas, for taking me on a grand adventure that was the perfect size for my status! Why, I’m still dreaming about it today!
Just last week I was heading up to Michigan’s thumb to attempt an astrological photo shoot. As you read, it didn’t exactly go as planned. But I did get this:
So I’m happy. But I also can’t wait to try it again! The end of the month will be more moonless nights…if I can get the weather to cooperate maybe I can get an even better image. Maybe one with the whole Milky Way in the frame!
But until then there are always barns.
On the way home from my starlit night I took my time, wandering around big farm blocks, teased by wide open vistas filled with barns.
There are so many beautiful barns in the thumb!
It seemed like I’d see one across a huge field, get there, and then see more on the far side of another field!
I wasn’t too sure where I was during most of my barn hunting, but it didn’t really matter — how lost can you get in a thumb?
But it wasn’t just barns that I found fascinating. I loved the big expanses of fields, and the tree lines in the distance too.
And there was this guy who moved a wing and caught my eye while I was focusing on a barn over his left shoulder.
What barn was I focused on? Well, these two:
But there were so many to choose from.
I could have driven around looking at them all day. It was almost as fun, in a different way, as shooting at night out under the stars.
Almost.
Now where was I? Ah yes, tramping around chilly Kensington Park one morning last week. I was checking out the herons on a dreary overcast day with spitting snow and drizzling cold rain.
And, as you know, I left the herons after a few minutes of attempting to get decent images in the low light and headed into the woods in hopes of finding skunk cabbage, a sure sign of spring here in lower Michigan.
And of course I hoped to spend some time with my little birds too. Those chickadees and titmice and downy woodpeckers and nuthatches that hang around visitors begging for a snack.
Since it was early, and the weather was bad I was probably the first person to venture into their woods that day. I knew the birds out on the boardwalk were hungry, they had already told me so. And the little ones back in the woods were ravenous too.
As I was being swarmed by a small cloud of birds I heard the sound of a red-bellied woodpecker high up in the trees. As I fed the little ones I watched him watch me.
Down, down, down he moved. Slowly, from one tree to another, pretending he wasn’t interested in all the activity. Not interested in those luscious peanuts or succulent woodpecker suet balls in my outstretched hand.
He even did a couple fly-overs, as he gaged the risk versus reward, but he couldn’t make himself land on my hand.
I waited patiently, camera held in one hand, the other outstretched filled with delicacies. Eventually my shoulders ached and I dropped a few treats on the ground and proceeded up the path and around a corner, intent on getting further into the woods.
He immediately dropped to the ground and gathered up his breakfast. I laughed and went on my way.
But just around the corner a new batch of birds waited for their snacks. I spent quite awhile there, photographing them in the branches and on the grasses near by, as they waited patiently for their turn for a treat.
Then I heard it. The distinctive sound of the red-bellied, and there he was, just out of reach in a tree near my head. Once again I held out my hand, and once again he flew over but couldn’t trust me enough to land. And once again I tossed him a peanut or two and went on my way.
Further into the woods a nuthatch was chattering loudly, and I stopped to give her a treat.
A bluejay showed up, and darned if that red-bellied wasn’t far behind.
Sighing, I moved over a bridge to the other side of a wetland, one of my favorite places to stop and feed the birds. Several littles were waiting for me and you know who followed me over there too.
As I was leaning over to put some seed on a bench for everyone to share I heard a gobble to my right. And there was a magnificent manly turkey, with his three wives strutting down the path.
He was so handsome that I pulled the camera away from Mr. Red-belly and focused it on the big boy showing off just feet away from me.
Mr. Red-belly wasn’t having it and he dive bombed my head while I was looking toward the turkey. As the turkey harem moved on down the path I left my increasingly rude stalker with a few seeds and moved on in the other direction.
And that’s the way the rest of my walk went. Wherever I stopped to feed a hungry bird, the red-bellied and increasingly fat bird followed. I finally dropped a whole lot of treats on the ground and got away.
I think he followed me for at least an hour and more than half a mile. He never came to sit on my hand but he knew he didn’t have to. If he was just persistent he’d get a contactless treat.
Though I describe him as a stalker and a pig, I actually smiled each time I’d hear his call. I’d look for him and there he’d be, a tree or two over from me, acting like he was entitled.
I guess he was.
As I scurried away I heard a munching sound in the underbrush. What kind of bird was making a sound like that?
Ahh….the infamous little red squirrel bird. He never blinked as I stood and took his picture. This guy didn’t notice me either.
Everybody was hungry that morning, and I realized I was too. No one was standing around offering me breakfast, so I decided it was time to head home and find something to eat.
But wait! I was in the woods looking for skunk cabbage, looking for a sign that spring has indeed come to lower Michigan. Did I find any? Or was I too distracted by the bird drama swarming my head?
Well of course I found it. And it made me smile too.
Change Is Hard 